After a poor start, Dallas Mavericks end an important offseason on a high note – NBA Feature (Part 1)
Out of all the teams in the NBA, the Dallas Mavericks probably have had the most mixed offseason and free agency this year.
The Mavericks, who won the 2010-2011 NBA championship after defeating the Miami Heat in the Finals, did not have major roster additions after that season and instead decided to hold on some cap space to aggressively target the
2012 free agency. In doing so, they let go Tyson Chandler and J.J. Barea.
In the build up to free agency this year, Deron Williams was labelled as the top prize out of all the free agents. Williams played for the New Jersey Nets last season, and had another great year in terms of personal statistics.
However, the Nets team looked de-motivated and lacked the passion and aggression to put them in the top eight of the Eastern Conference, missing out on a playoff spot yet another year.
Williams had said during the regular season that he wanted to leave New Jersey at the end of the season to be a part of a championship calibre team in order to achieve his ultimate goal of an NBA championship. He was all set to
become an unrestricted free agent, and the Mavericks had the cap space to sign him. Plus, the idea of a Dirk Nowitzki Williams pairing seemed too good to resist.
However, according to the CBA rules, Dallas could only offer him a four year contract, while the Nets offered him a max five year deal. In addition to that, Williams found the Nets franchise committed to making the playoffs on
a consistent basis, spending huge amounts of money to assemble a great roster for next season. Williams re-signed with the Nets and Dallas lost their main target in free agency.
To add to the problems of the Mavericks, veteran sixth man Jason Terry went ahead and signed a three year deal with the Boston Celtics, where as veteran point guard Jason Kidd signed a three year deal with the New York Knicks.
In a matter of days, the Mavericks had lost the two most important players of their back court as well as the player who was supposed to become their face of the future and carry the Mavericks into the post Nowitzki era.
However, The Mavericks have been a great NB franchise for the past decade because of a reason. The Mavericks have a committed and passionate owner in Mark Cuban, and a great front office. After suffering a series of blows, the
Mavs got right back to work and assembled a decent roster for the next season, while still holding plenty of cap space to target the next free agency.
The Mavericks signed former Memphis Grizzlies guard O.J. Mayo in free agency to start their back up plan. Mayo had a great rookie season with Memphis, averaging a career high 18.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists. However,
since then, Mayo lost his starting position in the Grizzlies line-up, resulting in a drop in minutes per game as well as points per game. Last season, Mayo played 26.8 minutes and averaged 12.6 points per game. Nevertheless, Mayo is a talented guard who can
somewhat solve the backcourt issues of the Mavericks that arose with the departure of Terry and Kidd.
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